The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1887-10-04

which had come aboard in the delayed pack
age. took it with a mixed feeling of aston
ishment and apprehension, saw Vandegrift
cast an eager glance toward it as l turned to
go forward again, and 1 fancied that he meant
to follow and address me, but if that was his
intention he thought better of it and walked
to the rail amidships where he stood looking
out over the sea with poorly assumed air of
unooncern, The letter proved to be from the
landlord of the City tavern, enclosing brief
note from Margnret Sullinger.
The landlord wrote:
attends s hp If TIE SS Of the delay which S
young lady gave i to me on board the vessel in
which tnev en- srk'd whittier h Impaired
them III usnAe3Sly kept it W h me VIII max
a o Eley 10 &peg lnoring loyn. l hSNe .ust
re uri ed and hearns eel eatally OF your whcre-
ABOUT h ten to forward it,
The enclosure ssas as follows:
Ia vessel we have secu e / pa sage on will touch
at II tvana. ana has us annou ted his termi-
nalon of land ng there ana re ur1ing to New Or
l leave you to imagine the effect of this
news. l came out of the forecastle, anxious
to get the benefit of the sunshine and the fresh
air while l reflected on this strange turn of
events and found Jack leaning against the
fore rigging and apparently waiting for my APP
pearance. He seemed inclined at first to walk
off again, though plainly with much reluctance
and the eagerness with which he grasped the
letter when l offered it to him, betrayed the
depth of his anxiety. He perused it and dashed
it to the deck, with n curse on Captain Sullin-
ger.
1--WE can never induce him to put back or
send us ashore in a boat, SUPPOSE said l.
with glance indicating the skipper.
"No!'' shouted Jack, with another oath, che
would see us id first"
He went aft tuning and cursing to himself
leaving me in q state of mind very nearly as
frantic as his own. felt very certain that an
appeal would be mere waste of words, but
nevertheless wrote one out on scrap of paper
and put it on tray along with the captains
supper, just going aft in charge of the cook.
Captain Pressy answered it in person and in
just four words half an hour later. He said:
"Don' t be an ass"
The voyage continued fo- two weeks with a
monotony that was almost madening under the
circumstances, but at the beginning of the
third week an incident occurred that broke
the monotony and very near brought the voy-
age to premature end. / turned out at eight
bells on an intensely dark night and going on
the forecastle-head, found the lookout in a
doze and green light twinkling right ahead
The events that Immediately succeeded this
discovery followed each other in such rapid and
startling succession that / retain but confus-
ed impression of the majority of them. re.
member shouting to the officer of the watch
of hearing the captain issuing orders in stem
torian tones, and then of seeing a huge black
hulk with shadowy sails resolve itself out of
the gloom and bear straight down upon u.s. In
moment it was Earring and scrapping against
the port side OF the "Signal." 1t was big,
iron-hulled, full-rigged ship.
Her bulkwarks lowered high above our own
and by the light of a ships lantern which the
captain had brought on deck. saw rope
dangling over her side. At sight of it Wild
suggestion thrilled through me like an electric
shock. Tho ta@nght that the vessel with
which we had Yfnear collided was sailing in
IN opposite DIRECTION to that pursued by the
brig, and that she must'consequently be bound
to some American port. flashed through NV
nf nd
mounted the bulwarks of the "Signal" and
sprining out with an extraordinary agility that
must have been born of my desperate resolve,
/ seized the rope.
had climbed to within foot of the rail of
the passing ship when turned my head for an
instant toward the brig and in that instant /
saw Vandegrift mount the main rigging. A
moment later, and before I could mount any
higher, the rope parted above my head and
fell into our own cockpit f1attening out our
skipper and interruptmg string OF nautical
oaths of which he was delivering himself.
ran forward to escape the consequences of this
unintentional insult and was overtaken amid
ships by Vandegrift, who held in his hand a
harpoon stick with cabbage knife inserted in
the end of it. 1t was an original weapon that
had myself invented as an improvement on
the harpoon for spearing PROPOSES, and it exl
planned, in connection with the appearance of
gVandegrft in the rigging. the parting, of the
rope and the ignominious failure of my hastily
conceived plan. fsl iop b'Go1 =
at came in handy,'' he said furnishing the
uncouth weapon and giving vent to ian exas-
perating laugh. He went aft again without
giving me an opportunity to answer, and in
deed, 50 great was the reaction from suddenly
conceived and as suddenly destroyed hope that
was powerless to retort. The result of the
incident was to plunge me into q state of
passive despair, which continued until ono
morning week later, when, through a serious
error i'll navigation into which the captain had
fallen, assisted by an affected chronometer, we
ran without notice so close to the island of
Fayal, oDscuredat the time by a heavy fog, that
the voyage was near being ended again by an
other sort of collision.
We got the brig about with some difficulty
and ran down under the lee of the island
where we lay rising and falling with the
swell, without breath of air to steady us.
Captain Pressy with laudible desire to
make virtue of necessity, ordered Vande-
graft ashore with one of the crew, as soon as
the fog had cleared up, to ascertain if fresh
water could be obtained to replenish our SOM
what scanty stores. For some reason, perfectly
unintelligible to me at the time, Vandegraft
chose me to accompany him. We pulled off
with strict injunction to return at the first
indication Of dirty weather, as the island
offered no protection from a storm on the side
where we lay. We landed at the foot of low
cliff over which rope ladder had been slung.
We found hut a short distance back from tho
brow'of the cliff but its occupant was unable
to talk anything except Portuguese which
neither I nor Vandegrift understood. A dumb
show and the frequent repetition Of the word
"Enghese" gave us TO understand that a house
which appeared long distance up the noun
tain side was occupied by English or some one
who could speak the language, and Jack set
out in that direction. He had not gone over q
hundred yards when he turned and came
back.
you may co. Castlemon," he said, land
I'll mind the boat"
His action struck me as rather peculiar, but
L could do nothing aless than obey and set
out without making any answer had climb
ed two or three Of tho terraces which lay be-
tween me and the house, when / suddenly be-
came aware that the sky was fast becoming
overcast and that the wind was beginning TO
blow from new quarter. j looked out to-
ward the brig and saw that the yards were
being swung around and that she was being
put in readiness TO get under way. AS near as
i could reckon had put half mile between
me and the place where we had landed. /
turned and ran back as rapidly as ] could,
with vivid recollection of the captains part
ing INDUCTION, lending wings to my feet. When
j reached the brow Of the cliff / beheld Jack
in the boat, pulling swiftly toward tho brig,
and already q cables length from the shore.
lie stopped rowing when hailed and looked
up at me.
81 am going to leave you here, b" he announced
cody. "This place is out Of the course OF
vessels crossing the ocean. The chances are j